Christ's Greatest Work by Billy Graham

Christ's Greatest Work

Jesus worked all His life. But the greatest work that Jesus did was not in the carpenter’s shop, nor even at the marriage feast of Cana where He turned the water into wine. The greatest work that Jesus did was not when He made the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, nor even the dead to rise. The greatest work that Jesus did was not when He taught as One having authority, or when He scathingly denounced the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. The greatest work that Jesus did was not in the great ethical program He presented to mankind—that program which has become the foundation for Western culture. What, then, was His greatest work? His greatest work was achieved in those three dark hours on Calvary. Christ’s greatest work was His dying for us.

Daily Prayer

When I consider the work of Jesus on this earth—which led to His supreme sacrifice—I pray all my labor this day will glorify You, my beloved Savior.

“Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2:24‬ ‭KJV‬‬

You can have authority over your problems by Adrian Rogers

You can have authority over your problems

 

SEPTEMBER 3

For He put all things under His [Jesus’] feet. 1 Corinthians 15:27a

And [the Father] put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, Ephesians 1:22

God has given us kingdom authority. Jesus said, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19).

When problems get over your head, remember they are under His feet.

You need not be discouraged when troubles strike. It is the pathway your Savior has walked before you. It is the way of the cross, and He has won the victory!

·      Write down the hardest thing you have to deal with today. 

·      Now put that paper on the floor. 

·      Look down on it.

Now you have a glimpse of God’s vantage point over the problems in your life. 

Remember… “He hath put all things under His feet.”

Invisibly Involved by Stephen Davey

Invisibly Involved

Philippians 2:13
For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

The internet has allowed people to engage in events worldwide.  Today we can surf sites and witness incidents unfolding in real time. 

A decade ago, much was made of the approaching millennium Y2K.  At that time, an article from the Wall Street Journal caught my attention.  Daystar International Ministry had high hopes of using a strategically located webcam to capture an unusual sight: the second coming of the Messiah!  This was expected at the stroke of midnight, signaling the year 2000.

I won’t take time to mention the prophetic problems Daystar was overlooking.  Okay––maybe I will mention one . . . the people who care about His second coming won’t be watching Him descend to Jerusalem; we’ll be coming with Him! 

Imagine capturingGod on film!  You would have Messiah where you could actually see Him.  Your own personal DVD from Daystar for $29.99—if you purchase it in the next fifteen minutes, of course!

A paparazzi photo frenzy would be old news compared to such a spectacle as this. 

A miraculous sighting of the Lord seems far more marketable and exciting than the invisible working of God . . . an idea that won’t sell many DVDs. 

Still, the longing in all our hearts remains—a longing that has television shows spinning off series after series: trying to understand the ways of God; imagining how heaven responds to earth; interpreting the role of angels and demons in the affairs of mankind. 

There are today fabricated reports of miraculous occurrences all across the globe:  visions, sightings, miracles, and strange happenings.

I’ll admit that it would be exciting to see with my own eyes a miracle performed by God.  That’s so much more interesting than attempting to discern His invisible providence—His invisible working in the ordinary events of everyday life. 

Yet for the believer today, that is where God actually is at work—in the mundane, tiring, ordinary, and even repetitive duties of life.  It may come without the thunder and lightning of Mount Sinai, but He is working in our lives right now just as He worked in the lives of His disciples and followers in the first century.

Howie Stevenson, former Music Minister who served with Pastor Chuck Swindoll for many years, was fond of saying, “God moves among the casseroles.”  He meant that God was just as much at work in a person making dinner in the kitchen as He was in Paul planting a church in Ephesus.

God knows how easy it is for you to doubt His sovereignty when you don’t see and hear His power . . . or sense His presence in the silence. But He has spoken, and He is present.

Walter Chalmers Smith put it this way when he wrote the first verse to a hymn in 1867:

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious,
The Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious—
Thy great name we praise.

Kitchens, cubicles, car pools, and conference rooms—all are the Holy of Holies. You are in His presence today; although invisible, He is at work in you at this very moment.  You don’t need a camera to prove it—God promised it.

So trust His heart . . . even when you can’t see His hand.

Prayer Point:  Ask the Lord for greater trust in His presence and involvement in your life, addressing Him as “The God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and me.”  This will help remind you that He is the God of all history—past and present.

Extra Refreshment:  Read 2 Corinthians 1:2-7 to see one way that God is absolutely involved in your life.

September 3 / Streams in the Desert

And he saw them toiling in rowing (Mark 6:48).

Straining, driving effort does not accomplish the work God gives man to do. Only God Himself, who always works without strain, and who never overworks, can do the work that He assigns to His children. When they restfully trust Him to do it, it will be well done and completely done. The way to let Him do His work through us is to partake of Christ so fully, by faith, that He more than fills our life.

A man who had learned this secret once said: "I came to Jesus and I drank, and I do not think that I shall ever be thirsty again. I have taken for my motto, 'Not overwork, but overflow'; and already it has made all the difference in my life."

There is no effort in overflow. It is quietly irresistible. It is the normal life of omnipotent and ceaseless accomplishment into which Christ invites us today and always.
--Sunday School Times

Be all at rest, my soul, O blessed secret,
Of the true life that glorifies thy Lord:
Not always doth the busiest soul best serve Him,
But he that resteth on His faithful Word.
Be all at rest, let not your heart be rippled,
For tiny wavelets mar the image fair,
Which the still pool reflects of heaven's glory--
And thus the image He would have thee bear.
Be all at rest, my soul, for rest is service,
To the still heart God doth His secrets tell;
Thus shalt thou learn to wait, and watch, and labor,
Strengthened to bear, since Christ in thee doth dwell.
For what is service but the life of Jesus,
Lived through a vessel of earth's fragile clay,
Loving and giving and poured forth for others,
A living sacrifice from day to day.
Be all at rest, so shalt thou be an answer
To those who question, "Who is God and where?"
For God is rest, and where He dwells is stillness,
And they who dwell in Him, His rest shalt share.
And what shall meet the deep unrest around thee,
But the calm peace of God that filled His breast?
For still a living Voice calls to the weary,
From Him who said, "Come unto Me and rest."
--Freda Hanbury Allen

True Love For Christ by Alistair Begg

True Love For Christ

You whom my soul loves.
Song of Songs 1:7

It is good to be able, without any "if" or "but," to say of the Lord Jesus, "You whom my soul loves." Many can only say of Jesus that they hopethey love Him; they trust they love Him; but only a poor and shallow experience will be content to stay here. No one ought to give any rest to his spirit until he feels quite sure about a matter of such vital importance. We should not be satisfied with a superficial hope that Jesus loves us and with a bare trust that we love Him. The old saints did not generally speak with "buts" and "ifs" and "hopes" and "trusts," but they spoke positively and plainly. "I know whom I have believed,"¹said Paul. "I know that my Redeemer lives,"² said Job. Get definite knowledge of your love for Jesus, and do not be satisfied until you can speak of your interest in Him as a reality-a reality that you have made sure of by receiving the witness of the Holy Spirit and His seal upon your soul by faith.

True love for Christ is in every case the Holy Spirit's work and must be accomplished in the heart by Him. He is the efficient cause of it; but the logical reason why we love Jesus lies in Himself. Why do we love Jesus? Because He first loved us. Why do we love Jesus? Because He gave Himself for us. We have life through His death; we have peace through His blood. Though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor. Why do we love Jesus? Because of the excellency of His person. We are filled with a sense of His beauty, an admiration of His graces, a consciousness of His infinite perfection. His greatness, goodness, and loveliness, in one resplendent ray, combine to enchant the soul till it is so delighted that it exclaims, yes, He is "altogether lovely."³ This is a blessed love that binds the heart with chains softer than silk, and yet stronger than steel!

1) 2 Timothy 1:12
2) Job 19:25
3) Song of Solomon 5:15, KJV

Overcoming the Fear of Sharing the Gospel / Senior Living

Overcoming the Fear of Sharing the Gospel

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. - 2 Timothy 1:7

A condemned prisoner awaiting execution was given the usual privilege of choosing his last meal. The prison guards looked in bewilderment when the meal arrived. It was a plate full of mushrooms!

The prisoner sat down and started eating the mushrooms one-by-one while the guards stood by silently. Finally, after he had eaten the last one, a guard spoke up and asked, “How was it?”

“Delicious,” replied the prisoner.

“So I have to ask,” the guard blurted out. “Why a plate full of mushrooms? I’ve never seen you eat a single one before.”

“Well,” replied the prisoner, “I always wanted to try them, but was afraid before now.”

How many people today live their lives out of fear because they’re afraid to do something new? Some are terribly afraid of sharing the gospel because of how they think others will react. Yet they’ve never really even tried it.

When you do something out of your comfort zone like talk about Jesus, you’ll likely find it’s not as scary as you thought. So make it a point to weave Jesus into conversations. You may be surprised how God uses you to share His message of hope with someone else!

Prayer Challenge:

Pray that God would give you the opportunity and courage to bring up Jesus in a conversation with someone who doesn’t know Him.

Questions for Thought:

When you think about sharing the gospel with a lost person, what kind of emotions does that bring up?

How might your life look differently if instead of acting out of fear, you fully trusted that God wants to use you to bring others to Him?

Surviving With the Book by David Jeremiah

Surviving With the Book Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction. Psalm 119:92 Peggy Lewis watched the wind blow through the trees outside her home in Eureka, Kansas. Then her house was suddenly caught in a swirling force that shattered windows, gutted walls, and blew off the roof. Shards of wood, glass, and furniture blew past her like shrapnel. It was a 152-mph tornado, and it took neighbors some time to pull Peggy and her husband from the debris. Everything was destroyed, but Peggy longed to salvage one possession—her Bible. “If you can find anything,” she told volunteers, “please find my Bible.” And they did. It had been blown a distance and rained on, but it was still intact, as if indestructible.[1]

Recommended Reading: Psalm 119:89-96

We can get through the storms of life if we have our Bible. We never know when adversity will show up. Some days are hard to endure. But when the Word of God is our delight, we’ll never perish in affliction. The promises of God keep us faithful; and when we remain faithful during times of adversity, our faithfulness reveals our integrity. When everything around us is falling apart, when everything we thought of as dependable, when all that we once held dear is turned upside down, we can absolutely count on God. Hollis McGehee, Follow Him in All Things

Suffering by C.S. Lewis

The Christian doctrine of suffering explains, I believe, a very curious fact about the world we live in. The settled happiness and security which we all desire, God withholds from us by the very nature of the world: but joy, pleasure, and merriment, He has scattered broadcast. We are never safe, but we have plenty of fun, and some ecstasy. It is not hard to see why. The security we crave would teach us to rest our hearts in this world and oppose an obstacle to our return to God: a few moments of happy love, a landscape, a symphony, a merry meeting with our friends, a bathe or a football match, have no such tendency. Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.

From The Problem of Pain
Compiled in A Year with C.S. Lewis

The Spirit of Transformation by John MacArthur

The Spirit of Transformation

“But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

The Holy Spirit’s transforming work is a central part of the believer’s sanctification.

The children’s fable The Ugly Duckling wonderfully illustrates the Holy Spirit’s transforming work in believers. The story is about an ugly young bird who can’t fit in with any of the other animals. It’s not until he encounters the beautiful swans that his life starts changing. The swans are an irresistible attraction for the duckling, something he can’t forget after they leave for the winter. Finally he makes the amazing discovery the following spring that in spite of his feelings of inferiority, he is not a duck but a swan, just like those creatures he has admired.

The days immediately following our conversion to Christ are often similar to the ugly duckling’s final experiences. We have a great sense of sinful unworthiness and yet a powerful attraction to Jesus Christ. We respond that way because we now know that character-wise He represents all we were created to be. And we soon come to realize that it’s both a humbling and exciting process to be transformed into Christ’s image.

Today’s Scripture, my favorite verse, is an excellent short description of the Spirit’s transforming work. We won’t see the glory of the Lord perfectly right away, but we begin to see it with greater clarity once we know Jesus Christ by faith.

Paul is referring to our basic sanctification, which is a progressive process by which the Spirit changes us from one level of Christlikeness to another. The end result will be our glorified position in Heaven, which is the Holy Spirit’s goal for us and the reason for our hope. The Spirit reveals what we will be in Christ: “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is” (1 John 3:2).

Suggestions for Prayer

Pray that you would focus more on Christ and less on yourself as the Spirit transforms your life.

For Further Study

Read Psalm 40:1-10.

• What general attitude does David have in that passage?
• How many times does he mention God there?

A Life of Pure and Holy Sacrifice by Oswald Chambers

A Life of Pure and Holy Sacrifice He who believes in Me…out of his heart will flow…  JOHN 7:38 Jesus did not say, “He who believes in Me will realize all the blessings of the fullness of God,” but, in essence, “He who believes in Me will have everything he receives escape out of him.” Our Lord’s teaching was always anti-self-realization. His purpose is not the development of a person— His purpose is to make a person exactly like Himself, and the Son of God is characterized by self-expenditure. If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain but what He pours through us that really counts. God’s purpose is not simply to make us beautiful, plump grapes, but to make us grapes so that He may squeeze the sweetness out of us. Our spiritual life cannot be measured by success as the world measures it, but only by what God pours through us— and we cannot measure that at all. When Mary of Bethany “broke the flask…of very costly oil…and poured it on [Jesus’] head,” it was an act for which no one else saw any special occasion; in fact, “…there were some who…said, ‘Why was this fragrant oil wasted?’ ” (Mark 14:3-4). But Jesus commended Mary for her extravagant act of devotion, and said, “…wherever this gospel is preached…what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her” (Mark 14:9). Our Lord is filled with overflowing joy whenever He sees any of us doing what Mary did— not being bound by a particular set of rules, but being totally surrendered to Him. God poured out the life of His Son “that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17). Are we prepared to pour out our lives for Him? “He who believes in Me…out of his heart will flow rivers of living water”— and hundreds of other lives will be continually refreshed. Now is the time for us to break “the flask” of our lives, to stop seeking our own satisfaction, and to pour out our lives before Him. Our Lord is asking who of us will do it for Him? From My Utmost for His Highest Updated Edition

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS The attitude of a Christian towards the providential order in which he is placed is to recognize that God is behind it for purposes of His own. from Biblical Ethics, 99 R

When We Doubt by Charles Stanley

John 20:24-31

Have you ever doubted God? At some point in life, every one of us could probably answer yes. Doubts come when our expectations are not met—for example, when we believe that God will act a certain way, but He doesn’t. Then we start to question His love and wonder whether He truly has our best interest at heart. 

The most famous doubter in the Bible is Thomas. He wasn’t with the other disciples when the resurrected Jesus appeared to them. Later, when they told Thomas that they had seen the Lord, he refused to believe. He’d left everything to follow Jesus, but the crucifixion had dashed his expectations of a glorious messianic kingdom. In his doubting state, Thomas demanded proof before he would believe. 

Have you ever considered how bold Thomas’s ultimatum was? No human being has the right to demand anything of the Son of God. Yet the following week, the Lord appeared to the doubting disciple and graciously offered the proof Thomas wanted. Jesus knew this wasn’t a case of rebellious unbelief, because Thomas belonged to Him (John 18:9). 

When we are the Lord’s, we never have to fear that He will cut us off. Remember Scripture’s words of assurance: “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). Our doubts should be a reminder that we have much more to learn about God. So let’s think of them as a challenge to dig deeply into His Word to discover why our expectations have led us astray. The more we grow in our knowledge of our Lord, the more we’ll trust Him.

A Lasting Legacy by Elisa Morgan

A Lasting Legacy

Elisa Morgan

[Eve] said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” Genesis 4:1

Genesis 4:1–2

Thomas Edison invented the first practical electric light bulb. Jonas Salk developed an effective polio vaccine. Amy Carmichael penned many of the hymns we sing in worship. But what about you? Why were you put on earth? How will you invest your life?

Genesis 4 tells us that Eve “became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.” After holding Cain for the first time, Eve announced, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man” (v. 1). In an effort to explain the surprising experience of the very first birth, Eve uses a phrase dripping with dependency on the sovereign aid of God: “With the help of the Lord.” Eventually, through Eve’s seed, God would provide rescue for His people through another Son (John 3:16). What a legacy!

Parenthood is just one of many ways people make lasting contributions to this world. Perhaps your offering will burst forth from a room where you write or knit or paint. You might be an example for another who is deprived of godly influence. Or your investment might even come after your death in ways you could never imagine. It may be the work you leave behind or your reputation for integrity in business. In any case, will your words echo Eve’s dependency on God? With the help of the Lord, what will you do for His honor?

How do you want to be remembered after you leave this world? In what ways will you seek God’s help to make that happen?

Dear God, may I lean into You in all I do, because it is only with Your help that I can bring forth a lasting legacy.

The First Missionary by Billy Graham

The First Missionary

Jesus Himself was the first missionary! He did not sit by passively and let those who happened to be interested in His teaching come to Him. He went out where the sick, the sorrowing, and the sad were, and expounded His message of joy, healing, and salvation. Even at a tender age, He went to the Temple and “taught” the doctors and lawyers who were entrenched in the old traditions. He found His way to the seaside and intruded upon the life of the commonest of laborers, saying, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Wherever He went He challenged, uprooted, and changed men. And at length they nailed Him to a cross because He had upset their selfish, secure, smug way of life. Not only was Jesus a missionary, but He pledged His followers to be missionaries, too!

Daily Prayer

Wherever I go, it is a mission field for You, Lord. Help me to be conscious of this, so that I may tell others the joyous message.

“And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭4:19‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Are you ready at any given moment? by Adrian Rogers

Are you ready at any given moment?

SEPTEMBER 2

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13

Winston Churchill was speaking to the House of Commons one day when he gave this advice, “We must always be ready to meet at our average moment, the thing that any possible enemy could hurl against us at his selected moment.”

Satan could hurl a deadly temptation at you at any given moment. The phone could ring with terrible news about a friend. A police officer could knock on your door to inform you of a tragedy in your family.

Trials can come with such a force that they blow you off course. Temptation can strike at your backside and almost give you whiplash!

It is not God’s will that you have fewer temptations or trials, but that you have victory in temptation and trials.

Are you ready at this moment to meet either what the devil may throw at you or what God may allow to come your way? If you’re not sure, you can get ready by spending time in His precious Word today.